Six Goals of the Preamble

Preamble:

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Goal- Number One

To Form A More Perfect UnionWhen the

Constitution was written the states saw themselves as separate nations.

The founders (framers) wanted the states to work together.

U.S. Postal SystemU.S. coins and paper

money

The Framers were dissatisfied with the United States under the Articles of Confederation, but they felt that what they had was the best they could have, up to now. They were striving for something better. The Articles of Confederation had been a grand experiment that had worked well up to a point, but now, less than ten years into that experiment, cracks were showing. The new United States, under this new Constitution, would be more perfect. Not perfect, but more perfect.

Goal- Number TwoTo Establish Justice

The nation needed a uniform system to settle legal disputes.

Make laws and set up courts that are fair

Court SystemJury System

Injustice, unfairness of laws and in trade, was of great concern to the people of 1787. People looked forward to a nation with a level playing field, where courts were established with uniformity and where trade within and outside the borders of the country would be fair and unmolested. Today, we enjoy a system of justice that is one of the fairest in the world. It has not always been so — only through great struggle can we now say that every citizen has the opportunity for a fair trial and for equal treatment, and even today there still exists discrimination. But we still strive for the justice that the Framers wrote about.

Goal- Number Three

Domestic TranquilityThe National government has

the power to keep peace and order inside America.

National Guard (Little Rock 9)Federal Marshals on planes

One of the events that caused the Convention to be held was the revolt of Massachusetts farmers known as Shays' Rebellion. The taking up of arms by war veterans revolting against the state government was a shock to the system. The keeping of the peace was on everyone's mind, and the maintenance of tranquility at home was a prime concern. The framers hoped that the new powers given the federal government would prevent any such rebellions in the future.

Goal- Number FourProvide for the

Common DefenseProtect the United

States from foreign attack

The United States government has the power to raise armies and navies.

ArmyNavyThe new nation was fearful of attack from all sides — and no one state was really capable of fending off an attack from land or sea by itself. With a wary eye on Britain and Spain, and ever-watchful for Indian attack, no one of the United States could go it alone. They needed each other to survive in the harsh world of international politics of the 18th century

Goal- Number Five

To Promote the General WelfareThe National government

has the power to promote the well-being of its citizens.

Birth certificateMarriage LicenseClean airBetter RoadsEducation

This, and the next part of the Preamble, are the culmination of everything that came before it — the whole point of having tranquility, justice, and defense was to promote the general welfare — to allow every state and every citizen of those states to benefit from what the government could provide. The framers looked forward to the expansion of land holdings, industry, and investment, and they knew that a strong national government would be the beginning of that.

Goal- Number SixSecure the Blessings of

LibertyThe framers remembered all

the patriots that died fighting for freedom.

The governments job is to protect freedom for all citizens.

Everyone has to answer to the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Future generations will be free

Commission on Civil RightsNational Council on Disability

Hand in hand with the general welfare, the framers looked forward to the blessings of liberty — something they had all fought hard for just a decade before. They were very concerned that they were creating a nation that would resemble something of a paradise for liberty, as opposed to the tyranny of a monarchy, where citizens could look forward to being free as opposed to looking out for the interests of a king. And more than for themselves, they wanted to be sure that the future generations of Americans would enjoy the same.

DOLON your DOL Answer Sheet:

List the 6 purposes of government found in the Preamble of the Constitution.

Assignment

1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6.  

Task:The Preamble to the United States Constitution is embedded with many different thoughts on the function of government. We look to this opening of the Constitution as the basis behind our country

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Your task is to rewrite the preamble for a 21st Century. You need to fill in the chart below as to which ideas you want to see pushed in the 21st Century. After that you will need to reconstruct those ideas into a written statement that can be shared with the rest of class.